Planned Parenthood charges $20 to watch a video
Planned Parenthood Keystone is the gift that just keeps giving, although I’m sure any closely scrutinized Planned Parenthood would render equally appalling information.
PP Keystone is an affiliate that covers “37 counties in Pennsylvania, home to over half of Pennsylvania residents,” according to its website. “We operate 17 medical centers that serve over 52,00 patients annually.”
Last week we learned about unsanitary conditions at one of those centers, and yesterday we learned about the slave wages PP Keystone pays, particularly atrocious when compared to the insurance premiums it charges the same workers, nearly equal to the wages.
Today I learned that PP Keystone charges abortion patients $20 to watch a video.
When I spoke by phone to a PP Keystone abortion sales agent, I was told the “information session,” which she explained is watching a video containing what plannedparenthoodpa.org describes as a ”mandated lecture,” is an add-on fee to the cost of an early abortion, which, she said, ranges from $310-440.
The origin of the video is the 1989 Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act, which includes, per PP:
… A mandated lecture with materials produced by the state. This lecture includes outdated and exaggerated information, and was included in the law as an attempt to convince women not to go forward with the procedure. There is no other medical procedure in existence which includes similar protocol.
For a woman under the age of 18, before the 24-hour waiting period goes into effect, a parent must come in to witness the mandated lecture.
In medical terminology this is called “informed consent,” and I beg to differ with PP that “no other medical procedure in existence includes similar protocol.” The reason the PA legislature had to write the law is because abortion is the only medical procedure in existence where consent is as uninformed as possible.
Abortion is also the only medical procedure in existence where one apparently has to pay extra for informed consent – consent that takes no staff time except to push a button. So the video actually saves clinics money.
The $20 fee is one of those slimy sales gimmicks we are all familiar with where the price of a product or service is jacked up upon delivery for “extras” one should not have to pay extra for.
PP claims to care about poor and disadvantaged but sure seems to find ways to squeeze more out of them.
Red Box charges 20 times less to rent a DVD, and at least you get to keep it overnight.
In this case, PP doesn’t want the video to leave its property, nor is it available on YouTube. Wonder why.
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
Are you blogging again, Jill? Where have you been?
Hey Crankster, Been back at it a couple weeks now. Had a lot of family stuff (all good) going on at about the same time I started a new diet/exercise regimen that was a bit consuming at first (have lost 36# now!) at about the same time I hit a mental dry spell. Thankfully, my wonderful moderators and Kelli kept the fires burning here til my stars realigned. Thanks for noticing… :)
That’s nothing. Here in Allentown when abortion patients show up half of them don’t know we don’t offer general anesthesia. Talk about informed consent. If they knew that they would all go to Allentown Women’s Center a city over. By the time they realize what’s going on we have already done an ultrasound, tested for STD’s and they have accrued fees. Yes, you heard right. If they change their mind we charge them item for item. 1 fee for Ultrasound. Another for STD testing, another for RH factor, etc. etc. Since most of our patients are poor they stay rather than leave. Who can afford $200 for NOT having an abortion to drop another $500 at another clinic that DOES offer twilight anesthesia. Pathetic. Money Hungry. Shameless.
Planned Parenthood: Could Care Less No Matter What
The hits just keep on rolling!! Unbelievable.
What I find funny is that you can see a movie in theatres for less than $20. Presumably, an informed consent video is a lot shorter than a feature length film, and shown on a smaller screen. On top of that, many people complain that ticket prices are too expensive nowadays anyways.
This is all true, hard to believe that this stuff actually takes place. And I must tell u this video is literally 3 minutes long..all profit for them..there is unbelievable things going on for profit..Unfortunately I’m to scared of losing my job to come out in public..I know some might say you can find another job, but there is no guarantee, and living pay check to paycheck like alot of America is enough to keep the mouth shut.
I guess the legislature will have to amend the statute to make sure it is shown to patients for free.
FoodForThought: Very interesting – a total bait and switch. Again, uninformed consent. In another post you mentioned a donor has funded general anesthesia there – coming soon. This was to better compete with Allentown?
CC: You can give me info, and I’ll get it out. For instance, I’d love to get a copy of that video. jill@jillstanek.com, or snail mail at Jill Stanek, PO Box 285, Mokena, IL 60448. My sources are always kept confidential.
We can also help you find another job. :)
Also, remember things like this when you see the “Abortion is only 4% of our business” line. Let’s see, an 1) ultrasound; 2) RH factor screening; 3) STD test; 4) 3 minute video; 5) Abortion. (Assuming there are no other “services” itemized. That alone would reduce the abortion % to 20%, even if every single woman had an abortion every time she visited.
cc- Please do send Jill a copy of that video. If it’s as bad as described, it needs to see the light of day.
If abortion is “only 3%” of what Planned Parenthood does then why do so many mills have to shut down the minute prolife legislation is passed?
Praying for you cc and FoodforThought.
That you get out of the biz. Yes there is help available for you to leave.
I get some of the young college girls to leave with me and come to Chester County Women’s Services because they didn’t know PP charges for ultrasounds. I have had friends who had abortions there and they tell me what it was like and what they were charged so I can tell the broke college girls. Some of the girls have seen their babies at our local CPC with their free ultrasound and have chosen life!!
CCWS even gave ME a free ultrasound and I was never going to have an abortion. They don’t charge anyone for anything. PP receives hundreds of millions in taxpayer money. Why can’t they provide all services for FREE? If CPCs do it why can’t PP???
And they have RNs on staff at my local CPC not just little old ladies (which is what the escorts told the girls we have).
Great point, Sydney M. And the ironic thing is that CPCs aren’t bankrolled by the government, abortions, or PP.
They’re donation-based. And STILL they can manage to have RNs and offer all services for free.
Have any of you EVER looked at an itemized bill from your insurance company? Do you know what a CPT code is?
Obamacare didn’t invent the third-party payer insurance system. Planned Parenthood didn’t invent the fee-for-service payment model. These things have existed for literally YEARS, so why do you care so much now?
Hey BV!!
How is Obamacare working out for you and yours?
I do medical billing/data entry so I do know what a CPT code is!! Crazy huh??
I have always cared so much.
Right, so you’re well-aware that PP didn’t come up with the crazy idea of charging for services rendered.
Who is saying they did?
Go to a CPC and get all services for FRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.
I don’t know what a CPT code is.
All medical services = free ultrasound of questionable legitimacy.
Question: Why do you say that the free ultrasound is of “questionable legitimacy?”
She thinks that the CPC volunteers are not necessarily trained or qualified, I bet you ten bucks.
BlueVelvet,
Planned Parenthood can charge whatever they want. They are a business. The point is patients arent proactively told its local anesthesia only. They find that out AFTER they have incurred charges and cant afford to change their mind. And I have visited both the Stroudsburg Planned Parenthood and the CPC around the corner. The Stroudsburg Planned Parenthood is a filthy grimy mess. I wouldnt crap in their toilet. God only knows what kind of vaginal infection I would catch. The CPC around the corner is shocking. Brand new hospital quality ultrasound machine, new floors, new chairs, gorgeous office. Nurse Practitioner on staff. It may as well be a private birthing center in Beverly Hills. I encourage anyone to.visit them and see for themselves. And while you are there drop off diapers or other items of need for patients who dont choose abortion. Oh, and stop by ANY Planned Parenthood Keystone and ask for abortion information. Nowhere on our paperwork does it state it is local anesthesia. It only mentions abortion by pill and surgical abortion by gestation.
BAM!!!!
Stick around FoodforThought. Please.
FoodForThought provides abortions though, it seems, they just hate PP.
“FoodForThought provides abortions though, it seems, they just hate PP.”
True, but the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
FFT – I assume you already know, but just in case…
http://www.attwn.org/
“True, but the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
True. FoodForThought, I do appreciate that you aren’t just swallowing a party line and supporting PP just because you’re pro-choice and okay with abortions. Wrong is wrong, and even if we don’t agree on abortion I’m glad you care about people and want to protect them from bad business practices.
Everyone,
WE will stick around. Myself and other employees at other centers will continue to post our grievances until this money hungry affiliate makes things right. Stay tuned. There is MUCH more to come.
Just proves the point that it is really all about the money.
All medical services = free ultrasound of questionable legitimacy. – plus a little misinformation and a dose of proselytizing.
WE will stick around. - ;-)
FoodForThought– Some of the pro-choicers on here are going to try and discredit you. They do it with everybody who has a grievance against PP, no matter how much evidence you supply to prove your point, they will try to discredit you. But don’t let them get you down and it’s okay to find another job. Jill offered assistance. That’s not an empty offer. Many pro-lifers are able and willing to help. Praying for you all.
Don’t let the trolls get you down.
Keep speaking the truth that you know first hand!!!
Oh I would love to hear of the misinformation and proselytizing that goes on in CPC’s from one that would have no freakin idea………but I must go.
Leave the loving of desperate women to the ones that aren’t paid to do it. Leave it to the ones who know the pain that abortion has brought to their lives and share themselves so babies and their mothers are saved from abortion. Leave it to the ones that get to MEET the babies and rejoice with the mothers that their stories have saved. Love wins.
As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly.
Proverbs 26:11
“Don’t let the trolls get you down.”
Also, do your best not to feed them.
What were we talking about again? Oh, right. That medical care costs money, whether at the most grossly mismanaged PP affiliate or the swankiest OB practice. And that a good handful of commenters here are deeply attached to a healthcare system that locks out literally millions of people, and love to crow about the virtues of personal and fiscal responsibility, yet hypocritically start whining that PP might bill for its services. Ok.
Also, isn’t it a little ridiculous to compare two completely different organizations based on the amount of “free stuff” they each provide? Great, I can get eleventy million knit bibs at my local CPC, which is great if I came there for knit bibs and not an actual medical service. And vice versa regarding PP.
“Leave the loving of desperate women to the ones that aren’t paid to do it.”
And the doctors and midwives and nurses who provide prenatal care to the women who keep their pregnancies, they don’t get paid?
“And that a good handful of commenters here are deeply attached to a healthcare system that locks out literally millions of people, and love to crow about the virtues of personal and fiscal responsibility, yet hypocritically start whining that PP might bill for its services. ”
Lol this is completely true and I agree with you here. I was complaining about the same type of thing on the other thread.
“Also, isn’t it a little ridiculous to compare two completely different organizations based on the amount of “free stuff” they each provide? Great, I can get eleventy million knit bibs at my local CPC, which is great if I came there for knit bibs and not an actual medical service. And vice versa regarding PP. ”
Have you ever been to a CPC? You have a really weird idea about them. A lot of them have nurses, sometimes even nurse practitioners, to do ultrasounds and help the new mom get her prenatals and such. No, they aren’t an OB’s office, and they aren’t giving out STD screenings, but for pregnant women they aren’t a BAD place even if you’re pro-choice. They’ll help the pregnant mom apply for medical assistance and other help, and they’ll get her things she needs for the baby, and they’ll help her find a doctor to deliver her baby that she can afford (lol conservative ideas about healthcare fall by the wayside when someone might consider abortion). They aren’t bad places, and even though you are fine with abortion it seems like you might be fine with pregnant women getting help they might not otherwise.
Ummmmmm BV,
The volunteers of CPC’s are the ones I am talking about. They counsel women and offer hope and help and support. The sidewalk counselors that don’t get paid to help women who would like a FREE ultrasound are worth a mention too.
Try to keep up.
So counseling at CPCs is free. Should healthcare also be free?
I don’t think CPCs are necessarily ”bad” places, Jack. I think charities and non-profits are great when they give people more options in life and encourage them to explore these options in an unbiased way. As an aside, have you ever thought of becoming a social worker? You’d be great at it IMO.
“So counseling at CPCs is free. Should healthcare also be free?”
Universal healthcare ftw. Would you be willing to have universal healthcare if abortion wasn’t covered? I’m not picking on you, just curious. Say we had a single payer system that covered contraceptives, maternity care, etc, but didn’t cover abortion. Would you be okay with that?
“I don’t think CPCs are necessarily ”bad” places, Jack. I think charities and non-profits are great when they give people more options in life and encourage them to explore these options in an unbiased way. As an aside, have you ever thought of becoming a social worker? You’d be great at it IMO. ”
Well see there’s the problem, everyone has a little bias. I literally CAN’T pretend to be okay with abortion, just like you couldn’t pretend to be pro-life. I don’t think bias is necessarily bad as long as people upfront about it. Like… some animal shelters are no-kill and refuse to euthanize animals, that’s a bias, but they shouldn’t be shut down, just honest. CPCs are honest about the opposition to abortion I don’t see what’s wrong about them offering services. “We won’t refer you for or provide abortions, but we will help you keep your baby or set up an adoption plan”. I really don’t see anything wrong with that. You can’t expect that everyone is going to agree with everything.
And thanks, I’ve considered being a social worker or a nurse, I think I’d be okay at those jobs. I just have never been to school in my life and don’t think I’d be able to get through it.
Oh I would love to hear of the misinformation and proselytizing that goes on in CPC’s from one that would have no freakin idea………but I must go. – meh, you already know. Delaying tests and results in the hope that women will think it’s too late or will change their mind, especially with some ‘counselling’, telling women they are further along than they really are, misinforming about the abortion procedure and it’s risks and proselytizing in general.
Yes, the ‘inside information’ is a bit nefarious.
“Say we had a single payer system that covered contraceptives, maternity care, etc, but didn’t cover abortion. Would you be okay with that? ”
Not any more “okay” than I am with the Hyde Amendment, but when your two options are “decent” and “nothing much at all”, well…
“I don’t think bias is necessarily bad as long as people upfront about it.”
Yes, sure. Truth in advertising.
“I just have never been to school in my life and don’t think I’d be able to get through it.”
Don’t rule it out just yet.
I dont get it. PP makes mad money yet in this country we still have homeless and hungry people.
Jack,
There are CPC’s that do STD testing. Mine does.
Fantasy,
I am sure you have video proof of this ABOMINATION and you will be forwarding it to Jill. HURRY!! The world needs to see!
Funny that you make no mention of the skeevy behavior of PP but whatevs.
Totally agree BV.
Jack would make a wonderful social worker, counselor, school teacher or coach.
There are young men that have been through what he has been through.
He could pour his love into the lives of others that need him.
Maybe the first and only thing we will ever agree on!
No I have agreed with you before!! :)
Let’s keep hope alive shall we?
Have a wonderful weekend Megs. And I mean that sincerely.
Thank you ladies.
You guys are right. Ill ignore and not feed the trolls. But I have to say Reality, Its Planned Parenthood that misinforms and speaks another language.
As part of across the board training nationwide, we are “taught” how to talk about abortion. Which means we dont talk about it at all. In fact, If u didnt see me walking into Planned Parenthood and only heard me speak you would have no idea what the hell I was talking about. First, we dont say abortion. We say AB. As in ay bee. Yes you heard right, dont say abortion. Its inflammatory. And we cant say fetal remains. They arent remains. They are products of conception. But we dont say that either. We say POC. To further add to the acronym confusion we cant even mention individual parts when putting the fetuses back together. Its CS+4. Calvaria (head) Spine, plus 4. 2 arms 2 legs. For an organization that provides so many abortions these losers cant even talk about it.
Jill, I am going to try and get a copy of the Talking About Abortion book and video and send it to you. No promises. They are practically doing cavity checks since you posted these articles.
Thank you FoodForThought.
I believe you.
You too, Carla! (Sincerely)
:)
“They are practically doing cavity checks since you posted these articles.”
LOL. Like, I’m so sure. Counting the fillings in your teeth is sure to intimidate you. :)
Only CPC’s are biased? Yeah, I bet PP has absolutely no bias whatsoever when it comes to counseling pregnant women… (rolling my eyes)